Winter in Florida

This month has not been as friendly to snowbirds as normal. By Maine standards, it is warm, but by Florida standards it has been cold. We have had to turn on the heat as the nights fall into the 30s and the days linger in the 50s. The weather forecast is for another week of it to come. We have adjusted into wearing our winter clothes and doing mostly inside activities.

The cold nights have caused the manatees to seek refuge in warmer places. This little area has warm water from the power company raising the temperature. On Tuesday we stopped by and saw dozens of the manatees hunkered down in this little canal.
We also saw an Atlas rocket launch this week. We were not able to get a picture of it, but we had a great view from the nearby beach. However, that evening was mighty chilly with the wind coming on over the water.

To bring a bit of cheer we stopped at Lowe's and bought a petunia plant yesterday to put on the balcony. We may have to bring it in at night, but it is wonderful to see live flowers!

Gary has not done much painting yet, but here he is working on the balcony yesterday. He has two paintings underway and is working at the Brigantine Gallery twice a week.

This is one of the ships he is working on. He really doesn't have a place to lay out his stuff and paint here, so we are trying to solve that problem.